It all comes down to this: Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020 hangs in the balance this weekend for the Langford-based Canadian women鈥檚 rugby sevens team at the final World Series tournament of the season in Biarritz, France.
Not that there鈥檚 any pressure.
鈥淭he competition has gotten a lot tougher this year and there are no easy games anymore,鈥� Canadian head coach John Tait of Mill Bay said in a statement.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked hard to meet that challenge at every series stop. Olympic qualification will be a great reward with which to end the series.鈥�
The top four teams in the final World Series standings will qualify automatically for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. Leading New Zealand, the lone qualifier to date, has 92 points and clinched its Olympic berth at the sa国际传媒 Sevens last month at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
sa国际传媒 heads into the France Sevens in third place with 78 points, behind the Kiwis and second-place Americans (80). The Aussies are fourth on 74 points. The only team with a realistic chance of crashing the top four is fifth-place France with 60 points.
A minimum decent showing this weekend in Biarritz should do it for sa国际传媒. If not, the Canadians must go through the North American, Central American and Caribbean Olympic qualifier July 6-7 in the Cayman Islands. But they don鈥檛 plan on that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always an honour to represent your country on the world stage and the 2016 Olympic Games [where sa国际传媒 won bronze in Rio] was new territory for all of us,鈥� Canadian captain Ghislaine Landry said. 鈥淭his team keeps putting in the work and getting stronger both on and off the field. We鈥檒l be giving it everything we have to get back onto that podium next summer in Tokyo.鈥�
sa国际传媒 played its pool games in Biarritz overnight Friday and into the wee hours of Saturday morning PDT against Spain, Ireland and Australia. CBC will have delayed coverage on Saturday.
